PS3 owner - concerned about Vampire Attacks

Post » Tue Jan 22, 2013 8:46 pm

So, us PS3 owners are getting Dawnguard in less than a month. While that does make me happy, it also has me very concerned because I've heard about these Vampire raids on cities/towns and how Vendor NPCs can get killed.

While I'm sure PC users have no problem since they have console commands, PS3 owners do not have this luxury.

So here's a list of a few questions I have about them.

1) How do the vampires attack work? Do they just "Pop up" on the world map and you have to hurry there? Do they happen as you enter a city/village?

2) Do they happen only in cities? or do they happen in towns (like Riverwood) too?

3) Is there a way to stop them from happening eventually?

4) Is there a way to prevent NPCs from getting killed?

Any help will be GREATLY appreciated! thanks! ^_^
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Kitana Lucas
 
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Post » Tue Jan 22, 2013 3:59 pm

1) They are completely random. Time of day does is not a factor. They occur in cities only when you are also in the city (they will usually appear a few seconds after you arrive), but can spawn at multiple places in each city, not just the main gate.

2) They will happen in cities, towns, and the wilderness.

3) Completing the main questline of the DLC should stop them from occuring in inhabited areas (ie towns and cities). They will continue to occur in the wilderness. However, this is bugged for some people, who continue to get attacks after the completion of the MQ.

4) Be quick in killing the vampires. Otherwise, no.

I sided with the Dawnguard in both of my playthroughs and both times the vampire attacks in cities stopped after I completed the DLC. I'm not sure of the specifics for the Volkihar side however. I've heard that siding with them also spawns Dawngaurd attacks in cities, though I am unable to confirm the details of these.
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Fiori Pra
 
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Post » Wed Jan 23, 2013 4:51 am

and remember always save game constantly in case a favorite or any npc that you don't want killed by a npc or reload the game from a save file or autosave if they die. my problem was in pc version is the whiterun stables getting attacked by the deathounds and the 2 npc's and horses would get killed. because anybody within a certain radius of you can be attacked and killed by any thing even if you don't see them at all or don't you know there around you. because they don't have to be in line of sight to have mobs attack them.
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Erika Ellsworth
 
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Post » Wed Jan 23, 2013 3:53 am

1) They are completely random. Time of day does is not a factor. They occur in cities only when you are also in the city (they will usually appear a few seconds after you arrive), but can spawn at multiple places in each city, not just the main gate.

2) They will happen in cities, towns, and the wilderness.

3) Completing the main questline of the DLC should stop them from occuring in inhabited areas (ie towns and cities). They will continue to occur in the wilderness. However, this is bugged for some people, who continue to get attacks after the completion of the MQ.

4) Be quick in killing the vampires. Otherwise, no.

I sided with the Dawnguard in both of my playthroughs and both times the vampire attacks in cities stopped after I completed the DLC. I'm not sure of the specifics for the Volkihar side however. I've heard that siding with them also spawns Dawngaurd attacks in cities, though I am unable to confirm the details of these.

At the highlighted area, vamp attacks do happen if you go the vamp path in DG, which i found funny for some reason.

Couple things i did to safeguard my NPCs while running through the DG main quest:

!) I didn't fast-travel into a city after two pretty hairy attacks. I would fast-travel to a place near a city, then go in on foot. Read somewhere that FT'ing upped the chance of a raid.

and

2) I didn't start DG until NPC guards were pretty strong. The 2 attacks i suffered through would have been routs if not for the city guards. Not that i would not have been able to kill the vamps, but without strong NPCs to hold them as i took them down, townspeople would have been at real risk. Think i had my current character @~61 when i started the DG main quest.
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Etta Hargrave
 
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Post » Tue Jan 22, 2013 4:17 pm

Save before you go out any door in a town, the sods can spawn as you go outside, not just when you first enter a town, but any time you go out a door in that town. They always spawn in the same spot in each location, so once you work out where to expect them, it is easier to check, several places like Markarth, Dawnstar and Windhelm can have two groups spawning in two different locations at the same time. You only have one attack in a town for the day, once you have an attack you are safe to do what ever you want in that town without becoming a nervous wreck running for the vampire spawn spot all the time.

Be careful about going too far from the vampire spawn location if you think you might get an attack, if you go up to Dragonsreach and get an attack as you come out, you are going to have to be real inventive to get to the main gate in time to save all your NPC's, Adrianne will be the first to die. You could take precautions, leave a follower near the gate, make sure your NPC's are well armed by reverse pickpocketing some decent weapons on to them, some health potions. But still you take a risk going so far from where an attack could occur.

In some locations the vampires will spawn in a walled town as you go by the stables, which can cause problems, Whiterun is one such location, Riften is likely another. You could walk by Whiterun and never realise you caused an attack. Same with the smaller towns, going near the town can cause an attack.

Lower level characters are likely to get town attacks with training wheels, the game will go easy on them. Over achievers who did everything are very likely to be in for a challenge if they choose to visit towns. Even high level characters who never did much, and have hardly any random events of note, could end up being inundated with vampire attacks. Vampire characters get it a bit easier than those who stick with the Dawnguard, but then vampires have to put up with being personally attacked by the Dawnguard as well as vampire attacks.

You can just avoid the whole thing, go off and do the Dawnguard questline and have a good time. You have to visit one town Dragon Bridge, if you get an attack they will spawn a long way up the road, you can kill them before they get any where near any NPC's. If you have to visit the Mage's College, I never got an attack on Winterhold and two of my characters got a lot of attacks. Even the dragons failed to show up at Winterhold for once.
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neen
 
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Post » Tue Jan 22, 2013 10:42 pm

So, us PS3 owners are getting Dawnguard in less than a month. While that does make me happy, it also has me very concerned because I've heard about these Vampire raids on cities/towns and how Vendor NPCs can get killed.

While I'm sure PC users have no problem since they have console commands, PS3 owners do not have this luxury.

So here's a list of a few questions I have about them.

1) How do the vampires attack work? Do they just "Pop up" on the world map and you have to hurry there? Do they happen as you enter a city/village?

2) Do they happen only in cities? or do they happen in towns (like Riverwood) too?

3) Is there a way to stop them from happening eventually?

4) Is there a way to prevent NPCs from getting killed?

Any help will be GREATLY appreciated! thanks! :happy:

1. They appear at the front gate of a city. I've had them appear when I fast travel to a city, if I've waited in a city or as I leave a building in the city. (like I've had the front gate in Whiterun get attacked as I leave Dragonsreach)

2. I've never seen one in any of the little towns. I've had them in Falkreath and Winterhold, though, so it's not just cities in their own cells.

3. If you complete the Dawnguard mainquest on the Dawnguard side, they become way less common, but they do still happen occasionally. I can't say if that's also true if you beat the MQ as a vampire.

4. Pretty much just have to check back at the main gate of a city every time you leave a building in town. It's super obnoxious, tbh. Another way you can do is to try and wait whenever you leave a building. If vampires are there, it won't let you, because of enemies. Early on, the vampires that attack aren't strong enough to be a huge threat. The guards can handle them. At higher levels, they'll wipe out an entire town if you don't stop them, though. I intentionally didn't stop an attack on Riften once, just to see how much damage they could do, and they killed literally everybody that was outside. They're a huge threat to your NPCs. You'll end up reloading a lot if you're trying to save all your vendors.
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sarah taylor
 
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Post » Tue Jan 22, 2013 9:52 pm

Thanks for the info... I guess maybe I'll just have to move to Solthsheim until I get the DG questline done then. :P

I'm level 81, so that means the guards should be pretty high up too, right?

I'm also tempted to juice up my pickpocketing and slap some enchanted smithed-up weapons onto some NPCs. Wonder if having 5 perks into PP% would let me place high-coin value items onto them...

Thanks for the feedback all! Will follow those rules, especially about the fast travel! ^_^
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Céline Rémy
 
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Post » Wed Jan 23, 2013 3:54 am

2. I've never seen one in any of the little towns. not totally true I've came across a couple vampires in riverwood and 1 other small settlement. and vampire don't always attack in front gates like for instance riften I had vampire attacks near the temple of mara by the guard who stands there.
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Kelvin
 
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Post » Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:29 am

Thanks for the info... I guess maybe I'll just have to move to Solthsheim until I get the DG questline done then. :tongue:

I'm level 81, so that means the guards should be pretty high up too, right?

I'm also tempted to juice up my pickpocketing and slap some enchanted smithed-up weapons onto some NPCs. Wonder if having 5 perks into PP% would let me place high-coin value items onto them...

Thanks for the feedback all! Will follow those rules, especially about the fast travel! :happy:

When everything is said and done, you'll be fine i think. Guards max out in the 50's i think, or thereabouts, so they can hold vamps for a bit until you can get to them.

Another quick thing-i don't know if it will work/help as it just dawned on me- may wanna try going to a town in the dead of night. Less ppl on the streets to be potential victims.
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Red Sauce
 
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